Progress

BEFORE

AFTER

In 2005, Your Deli was located on the corner of Church Street and Park Avenue. With Ziggy's Sports Bar & Grille next door on Park Avenue and operating its Carry-Out entrance from Park Avenue, behind Your Deli.

By 2007, Ziggy's expanded into the space previously occupied by Your Deli, and made beautiful improvements both inside and outside the building. Now, Ziggy's Sports Bar & Grille is one cohesive establishment, with its main entrance on Park Avenue, and offering a rear entrance and its Carry Out on Church Street. Your Deli is now operating and doing very well from the corner of Cleveland Avenue and North Main Street.

BEFORE

AFTER

In 2004, Ben Franklin, located on Park Avenue, was in need of some exterior renovation. Main Street Amherst helped with grant funds and . . .

. . . with new paint and a new awning, as well as brick restoration and sandstone cleaning, Ben Franklin had a great new exterior.

BEFORE

AFTER

Another 2004 renovation, Olde Towne Barber Shop, located on Church Street was in dire need of extensive structural repairs. With the Help of Main Street Amherst, the owner was able to make the repairs and beautify his business.

Here, the beautiful results of the Olde Towne Barber Shop renovation project. A building that all of Amherst is proud to see standing strong and open for business.

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AFTER

2004: Standing next to Olde Towne Barber Shop was another building in dangerous condition. The Chatterbox Restaurant needed much help. So with grants funds helping and lots of work . . .

 . . . these two beautiful buildings now stand strong on Church Street. Chatterbox Restaurant was replaced by Quesadillas Mexican Restaurant in 2007.

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AFTER

Olde Town Pizza House, located on Cleveland Avenue at the end of Church Street, needed a bit of sprucing up in 2004. Beginning with the front of the building, owners Darrell and Denise McCarty added new awnings and upper level windows with the help of matching grant funds. The west side of the building, shown above, needed just a little help.

The east side of the building had been painted with a charming mural (shown at far right) a few years before and is still in lovely condition. With a fresh coat of paint and one of the Ohio Bicentennial mural painters, the west side of the building now also looks fantastic!

BEFORE

AFTER

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Amherst Cinema has long been a place of entertainment for the families of Amherst and surrounding communities, providing affordable movies for all ages. As with any long-standing business, at some point, renovations become a necessity.

This "after" photo shows the wonderful job that the owners have done on the exterior and grounds at the Amherst Cinema. From parking lot and sidewalk improvements to an entire renovation of the exterior, it has again become a showplace in the downtown district.

BEFORE

AFTER

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This location on Park Avenue has been the home of several businesses over the years. Mary's Bird World was a long-time occupant here, until that business moved to Tenney Avenue. Soon after, Park Avenue Salon took over, used grant funds to improve the property and now is a booming business on Park Avenue.

In this photo, you see the Grand Opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the opening of Park Avenue Salon on Park Avenue.

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AFTER

New paint and awnings were added to this storefront before The Frame Shoppe moved to their South Main Street location.

Rugged Blue Outfitters moved into this Park Avenue retail location and have been offering us Carhart and other quality brands of outdoor and work wear ever since. The property continues to add value to the downtown area. Here you see the new lamp posts, flower baskets and trash receptacles that Main Street Amherst has added to the downtown streets.

BEFORE

AFTER

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This portion of the historic Nicholl building on Park Avenue has been home to several businesses. From many years ago, this location was a pharmacy, then various sports shops, and others.

Most recently, after undergoing a major renovation/restoration by its owner, Lighthouse Insurance has become the new occupant. The building received new windows, awning, paint, and major restoration of its sandstone exterior. The inside was also completely updated including an apartment upstairs.

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AFTER

This historic Church Street site began as the Quarryman's Store, serving the quarry workers groceries and hardware over 100 years ago. Subsequent business owners have occupied and made changes to this building over the many years it has stood at the corner of Church and Park. In the 1980s and 1990s, it was the State Liquor store. The Mermaid's Tale took occupancy in 1992 and in 2005 undertook a major interior and exterior renovation with the help of grant funds.

It now stands with its brickwork repaired, old decaying railings removed, the doorway restored to its original double configuration, transom windows were uncovered (hidden by the huge new awning in this photo), upstairs windows were replaced, new paint and much more helped to make this building a beautiful downtown landmark once again. See more renovation photos here.

Park Avenue Construction and Improvement Project

Click on any photo to enlarge

Removing old blacktop

Work at corner of Park Avenue & S. Main Street

Grinding and smoothing after removal of old blacktop

Business owners and shoppers alike were troupers throughout this complex process. As you can see, streets were closed and impossible to cross in most places. Rains came and added to the mud at some points, but all would agree now that this was a very worthwhile project.

Much shoveling by hand was required, and in the heat of the summer, it made for very long days! This is the corner of Park Ave. & Church St.

One lane of Park Avenue stripped of old blacktop in front of the Main Street Offices.

Preparation for laying new blacktop.

Some very large and very specialized equipment was used on this job. Here, our fearless Main Street President takes a ride on the biggest! They later awarded her a hard hat to wear on her next construction job!

The intersections at Church St & Park Ave, Park Ave & Main, now have stop signs with traffic lights rather than overhead hanging lights, and stamped blacktop designs. This overhead signage also points to our Historic Downtown district. Since these street photos were taken, Church Street has also been improved from Cleveland Avenue to Tenney Avenue. During these projects, every detail is thought out in an effort to make our downtown area more attractive and accessible to everyone.